


It's Just Really Hot

by equinope



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, M/M, Summer Vacation, Teenagers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-29
Updated: 2015-07-29
Packaged: 2018-04-08 12:03:58
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,696
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4304286
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/equinope/pseuds/equinope
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's summer break and it's really fucking hot. Eren and Levi can't think of anything better to do than to lay outside - the one and only place in their world where it's really fucking hot. They are not the smartest children, but at least they have each other (for the time being).</p><p>Or the one where Eren and Levi have been best friends, attached at the hip, for years, but Levi has to leave at the end of the summer to train for the Olympics.</p>
            </blockquote>





	It's Just Really Hot

**Author's Note:**

> hello hello. this might be the dumbest thing i've ever written but hey, i had fun with it.
> 
> WARNINGS:  
> -sorta nsfw (there's no hardcore smut, sorry. i already went further than i was planning just with this lol)  
> -a whole lot of swearing  
> -very not betaed
> 
> so yeah overall it's pretty tame. just a lot of fluff and banter. enjoy :)

The humidity hung in the air like a cloud as the sun blazed down on Earth from the hazy sky. Chlorinated water trickled down miniature waterfalls and into a glassy pool. A dragonfly buzzed by, landed on the back wall of a house, then buzzed off again. Cicadas screeched in distant trees and a lawnmower rumbled from a few yards down. The local classic rock station hummed on in the background. Eren laid sprawled out on the patio just a few feet from the edge of the pool, his hair sticking to his forehead and his eyes closed. Levi's head rested on Eren's stomach, drifting up and down with Eren's smooth and steady breaths. His feet dangled calmly in the water.

"Boys, are you awake?" A woman in her mid-thirties leaned out the back door of the house, bag and car keys in hand. Both Eren and Levi lifted their heads up slightly and looked in her direction with squinted eyes. Eren held a hand up to shield his face from the sun.

"I am now," he sassed.

"Oh, don't give me that. There's no way you could be sleeping in this heat," the woman chided.

"Then why'd you ask?"

She opened her mouth to explain herself, but then replaced the words with a sigh and a roll of her eyes. "I'm going in to work for a little bit. I should be back by six."

"Okaybyeaunty," Eren said quickly, earning a laugh from his aunt and a snort from Levi.

"You seem eager for me to leave," she said.

"No, no, I just-" he paused and exhaled heavily, wiping a bead of sweat off his forehead. "It's just hot. It's just _really_ hot."

"You could go inside, you know. It's a lot cooler in there."

"Yeah, but there's nothing to do in there."

"Well you seem very active out here." Eren glared at her and she raised her hands in defense.

"Alright. I'm leaving, I'm leaving." She flashed both of them a teasing smile before retreating into the house and closing the door. Levi felt Eren sigh and relax beneath him.

"She accuse you of jacking off to your Stones poster again?" Levi questioned, his voice soft and deep. Eren flinched.

"What?! No!" he argued.

"You seemed tense."

Eren made a sound of disapproval. "It's nothing."

" _Okay_."

"Fuck off, it's nothing!"

"Alight, Eren. Jesus." Levi kicked his foot through the water, splashing himself and sending a few drops Eren's way in the process. Eren flicked him in the side of the head and told him to fuck off again, muttering something about him "trying to get a tan, remember?" Levi lifted his head up off Eren's stomach and leaned back on his forearms.

"You're gonna have a nice imprint of my skull soon if we keep this up."

"Whatever," Eren mumbled.

"Whatever?"

"Yeah, whatever. I don't mind."

Levi turned his head slightly and glanced back at Eren. He was squeezing his eyes shut and holding his hair back out of his face. His cheeks were flushed red, along with the skin on his neck, chest, arms, and basically every other every of his body that wasn't covered by a bathing suit or Levi's head. His mouth hung open slightly and he took long, deep breaths. Levi sighed and laid back down again. "Just don't blame me when you have a huge-ass splotch on your stomach."

"Whatever."

They returned to lounging in silence, moving only when Eren tapped his feet to the beat of the music occasionally. It was the heart of summer and they had nowhere to be. Absolutely nothing to do. Mikasa was at tennis camp, Armin was taking extra classes at summer school, Jean and Marco were on some "epic cross-country road trip", Ymir and Historia went to a camp together, and the rest of Eren's friend group was on vacation or visiting family. Levi's friends were all working. Their neighborhood felt deserted. Levi's house next door was quiet, since his uncle was nowhere to be seen - as usual - and now that Eren's aunt was gone, his house was noiseless as well.

It was a commercial break on the static infused radio station, when Eren blurted out, "Do you remember when you hated me?"

After a short, confused pause, Levi replied, “Yes.”

"Because someone started that rumor that spread through the entire sixth-through-eighth grades."

"Yes, Eren, I remember."

"Everyone hated me."

"Yes, but that happened five years ago. I'm pretty sure we're the only people that remember it, and _I_ only remember it because _you_ bring it up constantly."

"I just think about it a lot. Like, what if everyone still hates me and they're just pretending not to? What if they still blame me?"

"Jesus Christ, Eren, you need to get out of the sun."

"You're not denying it!"

Levi groaned and put his hands up to his face, rubbing his eyes with his thumbs. "Oh my God, no one hates you, okay? No one blames you for anything. No one. Not one person. Everyone fucking loves you. Now will you just shut up about it?"

There was a pause, and then Eren murmured, "Now _you_ seem like you hate me."

Levi pushed himself up with a grunt. He turned around to face Eren, supporting himself with his knees. He glared down at the other boy through thin strands of slightly damp, inky black hair. Eren cracked one eye open and looked up at him suspiciously.

"Are you gonna beat me up again?" he asked.

"That was also _five fucking years ago_ ," Levi retorted. Eren just stared at him with one sparkling, blue-green eye, waiting for an answer. He was supplied with a mumbled "No", followed by a "I'm getting in the pool."

"I'm not," Eren stated.

"Good for you. Have fun dying from sun poisoning."

"Thanks, I will."

Eren remained planted on the patio while Levi went over to a decorative boulder that had been dubbed "the diving rock" by a very weathered sticky note. He climbed up on top of it and stood there for a few moments, looking around Eren's parched backyard, his eyes falling on Eren himself most of the time. After a particularly lingering stare, he slid his right foot back and bent it, so that just his toes were pushing against the rock. Then he launched himself into the air, tucked his knees up against his torso, and landed in the pool with a perfect cannonball. The splash was huge for his size. Most of Eren's body ended up drenched. When Levi popped his head out of the water, he found a dripping wet and very angry 17- year-old boy standing at the edge of the pool giving him the death glare. Levi just looked back at him, expressionless, like the enigma he so often appeared to be.

"You're an asshole!" Eren screamed.

"What? What did I do?"

"You know what you-" He stopped himself with a clench of his fists, resisting the urge to blow up at his best friend. He just exhaled rather loudly, grumbled something under his breath, and plopped back down to his spot on the ground. It was like the visible heat waves were annoyance radiating off of him. He laid down and seemed to relax again, but his eyebrows remained furrowed.

Levi swam over towards Eren and looked at him some more. Everything below his shoulders he kept submerged, so only his eyes and hair peeked out from the edge of the patio. Eren glanced over at him and scoffed.

"You look like a grumpy, old alligator," he said. Levi didn't question it. Instead, he used his hands to form a makeshift water gun and squirted Eren's feet with it. "What the hell?" He poked his head up and looked down at the other end of his body, wiggling his toes. Levi took the opportunity to squirt him in the face. He sputtered and frantically wiped the drops away. "Hey! Stop it!" Levi refused and shot water on to his chest. "STOP!"

"For once, I don't think I'm the one being irritable," Levi muttered as he continued to shoot more water.

Eren protested loudly, repeatedly yelling things along the lines of "STOP!!" while attempting to whack Levi in the head without getting up from his spot. But when Levi managed to shoot water directly into Eren's belly button, there was suddenly a burst of giggles. "Stop it," Eren whined, but his defenses had weakened. There was a glimpse of a smile on his face before he tried to force it back into a frown. This seemed to satisfy Levi, since he unclasped his hands and hoisted himself out of the pool, his wet skin and muscles rippling in the sun only a few feet from Eren. Eren watched for a moment, but then flinched and quickly shut his eyes.

"I'm going to get more sunscreen," Levi announced as he went over to one of the patio’s lounge chairs and grabbed the towel that was draped across it. He wrapped it around his back and returned to stand next to Eren.

"We do own sunscreen, you know," Eren said without opening his eyes. "I know it's just the weak, peasant brand, but we do have it. You don't have to go all the way to your house to get your own."

"Oh, all the way next door?" Levi mocked. "I'm not a lazy bastard like you, I think I can handle it."

"Fine, whatever. Knock yourself out."

"I might take a shit while I'm over there too, so don't expect me back right away."

"Fantastic information, Levi. Thanks for letting me know."

"No problem." Levi leaned over and brought the towel up to dry his hair off. As he shook the cloth over his head, water droplets went flying, many landing on Eren.

"Fucking stop it!" he protested, but the smile had returned. Levi stopped and let the towel fall to his shoulders.

"I'll be back," he said, and then he went over to the side of Eren's yard and hopped the fence to his own.

Once Eren heard the sound of Levi's back door creaking shut, he let out an exasperated sigh. He sat up and held his head in his hands for a while, or until he started worrying about Levi coming back and seeing him in that state. So instead, he decided to check his phone, which was sitting on the windowsill near him. He stretched his lanky body as far as it would go and grabbed it. There were some messages from his internet friends that he ignored for the moment, and at least a million texts from Sasha that had a considerable amount of capital letters in them. Actually, she appeared to have caps lock on the entire time.

_S: EREN WHAT'S UP_

_S: I NEED YOUR AUNT'S CASSEROLE RECIPE ASAP_

_S: YOU KNOW THE ONE WITH ALL THE STUFF IN IT_

_S: IT'S NOT FOR ME IT'S FOR MY GRANDMA OKAY I SWEAR_

_S: EREN WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU ANSWER ME_

_S: EREN_

_S: EREN_

She then went on to text his name to him 17 more times before finally giving up. The last message was sent only three minutes ago.

_E: sorry sorry my aunt's at work so idk_

_S: wHY didn't you answer mE???_

_E: sorry i was in the pool_

_S: fuck you i wanna go swimming!!!_

_S: it's sO boring here i miss you guys!!_

_S: my grandpa just sleeps all the time and my cousins are playing pinochle or some shit idk how to play and my mom's not back from the grocery store yet and tHEY DON'T HAVE WIFI WHAT DO THEY EXPECT ME TO DO EREN SAVE ME_

_E: play cards? ask your grandma about her youth? knit a sweater?_

_S: that's all bOrING_

_E: well it's boring here too_

_S: bullshit!! you have armin and mika don't you? can't you do something with them??_

_E: armin's too busy being a nerd and mikasa's too busy being an overachiever_

_S: jean?? marco???_

_S: oh wait they're fucking in every state i forgot_

_E: SASHA_

_S: connie's at his grandparents'_

_S: ymir and historia went to that camp or whatever_

_S: what about everyone else?_

_E: vacation_

_S: oooh right. what about levi and his squad?_

_E: they’re all working. last minute college fund raising and all that crap. i'm with levi but he went to go take a shit or something. he's taking fucking forever_

_S: so it's just you and levi????_

_E: yeah :/_

_S: and you're at your house and your aunt isn't home?????_

_E: yeah...?_

_S: oOooOoOooOH_

_E: ???_

_S: *smirking face*_

_E: no_

_E: NO_

_E: FUCK OFF NOT YOU TOO_

_S: you two have been really clingy ever since like april_

_S: like unusually clingy. it's kinda cute in a gross way_

_S: you're gonna realllly miss him aren't you. when does he leave??_

_E: august 16. 30 days exactly._

_S: aww honey it'll be okay_

_E: DONT ""HONEY"" ME_

_E: FUCK YOU_

_S: i'll leave you be so you can make those 30 days something to remember *winking face*_

_E: NO_

_E: I HATE YOU_

_E: IT'S NOT LIKE THAT_

_E: SASHA IT'S REALLY NOT LIKE THAT_

_E: HOW MANY TIMES_ _DO I HAVE TO SAY IT'S NOT LIKE THAT_

_E: SASHA IT'S NOT_

"I have returned."

Eren jumped, nearly letting his phone fly out of his hand and into the deathly water. He hurriedly exited out of his conversation with Sasha and went into the first app he could tap on. Levi crossed Eren's yard, towel hanging off his shoulder and monstrous bottle of sunscreen in hand, and came up behind him, looking down at the glowing screen.

"Facebook?" he questioned. "When the hell was the last time you went on Facebook?"

"I- uh- I had a notification. The little red dot was annoying me," Eren stuttered. Levi nodded and sat down in his spot at the edge of the pool.

"Understandable."

Eren laid back down again with a relieved sigh. He held his phone above his face and started playing some 8-bit space shooter game. Not much progress was made though, since he kept glancing over at Levi putting on sunscreen every five seconds. He rubbed his hands up and down his legs, slowly and with pressure so it all soaked into his skin. Then he did the same to his chest, arms, neck, and face with no issues. The problems started when he got to his back. He didn't put any there when they first went outside, since he was lying face up, but apparently he was planning on changing positions, and now he was struggling to reach every inch of exposed skin.

"Your arms are too short," Eren stated. Levi ignored him and continued to contort his arms in ways that shouldn't have been possible. "Your arms are too short," he repeated. "You can't do it."

"Don't fucking call me short."

"I'm not calling _you_ short, I'm calling _your arms_ short."

"Well, don't fucking call my arms short." With his left arm bent up and over his shoulder, he tried to reach down towards the middle of his back. There was suddenly a sickening pop and a little grunt and grimace from Levi.

"Okay, okay, that's it. Stop this," Eren set his phone down and sat up behind Levi. He snatched at his wrists and pushed his arms back into more human-like positions. Levi's face (which was facing the pool like he didn't dare to turn around to look at Eren) seemed more surprised than defeated. "Give me your stupid-ass sunscreen," Eren ordered, mumbling "Nerd," right after. He made grabby hands at the bottle that he couldn't quite reach.

Levi took the bottle and threw it backwards blindly, sending it right past Eren's hands and into his chest. Eren cried out, but with a hint of a smile. "You missed," he taunted.

"I don't remember aiming at anything," Levi countered. Eren emptied some lotion into his hand to go with the uneven layer that was already on Levi's back.

"The moment I saw you grab it like that, I thought it was gonna be hitting my face for sure." Eren rubbed his hands together and then placed them on Levi, starting with his upper back. It immediately looked more like a massage than someone rubbing sunscreen into a person's skin. "Why do you want it on your back now, anyway?"

"I dunno," Levi muttered. He just stared down at the water, eyes half-lidded and glassy.

"Oh come on, really? The silent treatment? You're really gonna do this to me? I'm helping you."

Levi didn't say anything.

In a voice mocking a reporter's, Eren said, "Oh no! Breaking news: The nation's strongest, fastest, and cruelest athlete can't put sunscreen on his back without breaking his arms in half!" Eren scoffed and returned back to his normal voice. "I think the majority of humans have trouble with that, Levi. You are human. There's nothing wrong with asking for help every once in a while."

"Yeah, whatever," Levi mumbled. Eren just rolled his eyes, quickly giving up on trying to convince his friend that he wasn't some invulnerable robot. Instead, he continued to dig his fingers into his upper back.

"Your shoulders are so tense, Levi. What the hell?"

"I didn't ask you to give me a fucking massage."

Eren chuckled awkwardly. "Sorry, it's kind of second nature. But you really need one, anyway." He kneaded harder into the knots in Levi's back. "Jesus, how do you live like this? You need to try to relax more."

"Live my life for one day and then tell me to- _oh fuck_." There was a loud, apparently satisfying, cracking, and Levi suddenly seemed to melt. His shoulders dropped and his eyes fell completely shut. Eren took his hands away like he had just touched hot coals.

"Shit, sorry," he uttered.

Levi lazily shook his head. "No, no, don’t apologize. How did you get so _good_?"

"I- uh- what?"

“At this - what you’re doing.”

“Oh, back massages?” Eren bit the inside of his cheek as he stared down at Levi's back. "I can't believe this has never come up. Almost all my free time freshman year was spent helping Armin with his obsession with the human body. Somehow that turned into studying the art of massagery, or whatever. We practiced on each other and now I'm basically the master of back massages.”

“That sounds extremely gay- ”

“Well, you would know, wouldn’t you?”

“Shut up. As I was saying, that sounds extremely gay and I might want to hear more about it in the future, but right now the only thing I want you to be doing is moving your hands. Why did you stop moving your hands?”

“Oh, uh- yeah. Okay.” Eren nodded and hesitantly let his fingers start massaging again. After a minute or two of Eren looking like he was going to shit his pants and Levi looking like he was in heaven, the elder of two years spoke up again.

“I’m going to have to take you with me,” Levi said. “You will be my personal masseuse.”

Eren let his lips slowly curl up into a grin. “Sure. I didn’t need to finish high school anyway. I can just follow you around the world for the rest of my life.”

Levi made a barely detectable sound of approval. He moved slightly and pressed his back harder against Eren’s palms. One of his hands slid off the patio and into the water. He started twirling up miniature whirlpools with his fingers while Eren used his own to dig into the tension that drowned Levi’s body.

Eren cleared his throat as his teeth gnawed away in his mouth. “I- Um, you’re gonna have to lay down if you want me to get the rest of your back,” he said.

Without a word, Levi repositioned himself to be laying stomach-down on the pavers. In the sunlight, his pale skin seemed to glow and his ebony hair contrasted it just as brightly. One of his arms extended forward while the other dangled in the pool. He rested his head on its side so he was staring with slivers of eyes out at the water - away from Eren.

Eren got up on to his knees and stared down at Levi, his lips set in a firm line. His chest puffed up with a particularly deep breath before moving into the position he had always used. As his legs straddled Levi, he was just about to let their skin touch again when his phone started buzzing.

With a huff and a mild look of relief on his face, Eren scrambled off of Levi and snatched his phone. He tapped the screen and flung it up to his ear, saying "Hey, Hanji. What's up?", a little rushed and breathless. The shrill voice on the other end came bursting out of the speaker.

_"Eren! Oh my lord, Eren, honey. Sweet, sweet Eren. Do you have an idea where Levi is? Even just a slight clue? Anything?"_

"Uh..." Eren glanced over at Levi, who had now turned his head to look at him. "Yes."

 _"Oh, thank God! I knew you would. I should've called you first."_ Hanji groaned and made a muffled screaming sound. _"The little asshole won't answer his phone, so I've been calling everyone trying to get a hold of him. Erwin said he wasn't answering his texts either. Mike said he hasn't spoken to him in days. Petra didn't know anything. Oluo wouldn't pick up-"_

"Wouldn't it have been easier to just send out a text to everyone?"

_"No, Eren, you don't understand. This is an emergency. I needed to get a hold of him as soon as possible. I just- Wait, wait, wait, I only have five minutes. Seven minutes tops. Shit, I can't lose this- Wait! You said you know where Levi is?"_

"Yes... did you want to talk to him?"

_"Yes- Wait! You're with him?!"_

"Yeah, he's right next to me. What the hell is-"

_"OH MY GOD. GIVE HIM THE PHONE."_

Eren yanked the phone away from his head, his eardrum pounding. He practically threw the phone at Levi, who was still laying stomach- down on the ground. Levi grabbed it and calmly held it up near his ear with a tiny, amused smirk on his face.

"What?" he barked.

_"WHY AREN'T YOU ANSWERING YOUR PHONE?"_

Levi sighed and glanced over at his own phone, which was sitting on a lawn chair on the other side of Eren's yard. "I'm busy."

Now the voice on the other end sighed. _"Well, since you're with Eren I won't get too mad- Wait! Shit. My boss- Um, Levi, I have an emergency. How do you get sauce stains out of a white shirt?"_

Levi put his head face-down on the patio and groaned. "On what planet is that an emergency?"

There was a pause, and then a mumbled, _"Pizza Planet."_

"Oh for God's sake, Hanji."

_"I don't wanna lose this job, too! If my boss see's how dirty I got this shirt I don't know what he'll do."_

"You're not going to get fired for getting sauce on your shirt. You're making pizzas, how the fuck are you not supposed to get shit all over you?"

_"My boss is insane-"_

"Well if you say he's insane then he must be a complete fuck head."

_"Shut up! I'm on thin ice, okay? I already hung up on a customer and ruined a pizza today. But for the record, I tasted it and it was fucking delicious so I don't know what the hell he's talking-"_

"Fine, fucking fine. If you're so worried about it. Is there an extra uniform lying around?"

_"Uh, yeah, but-"_

"Change into it."

_"What?! I can't do that!"_

"Yes, you can. Just find a fucking bathroom or something and change into it. Drop the dirty one off at my house after your shift. I'll clean it and give it back to you tomorrow."

_"Really? Are you sure? You don't have to do that."_

"Just do it before I change my mind."

_"Okay, okay, I'll try. Thank you. You're a lifesaver. I really should learn how to clean things my own things. I've just been so busy-"_

"It's fine, Hanji. Now, bye."

Levi hung up and tossed the phone back to Eren, who was looking down at him happily. Levi glared and turned to face the pool again.

"Fuck what everyone says. You are a nice person," Eren said.

There was only silence.

"The world's gonna love you, Ackerman."

At that, Levi muttered, "Fuck off," and rolled himself into the pool. Eren watched with a smile as Levi let himself sink all the way to the bottom before breaking his pose and coming up for air. Similar to before, he kept everything below his shoulders submerged as he swam back over to the edge of the pool, his eyes peeking out from above the patio.

"You're such a fucking dork," Eren said with admiring eyes. Levi just scowled at him. "You're gonna have a fan base. I just know it." In a high-pitched voice, he said, " _Ohmygod, have you been watching the Olympics? Have you seen that one short swimmer? The one that glares at, like, everything? God, he's such a cutie. And did you know he's only nineteen?!_ "

Levi raised his mouth out of the water. "Please stop."

" _We could totally actually go out. I mean, he has a resting bitch face. I have a resting bitch face. We're perfect for each other, you know?_ "

"I'm going to drown myself."

Eren laughed and went back to his normal voice. "I'm just saying, don't be surprised if you get a mob of girls obsessing over you."

"Because that's exactly what I want - _girls_ fawning over me."

"I'm just being realistic here." Eren put his hands together and then spread them apart and held them up to the sky. "I can see it now - a gif set of you glaring at random shit with the comment 'Levi Ackerman is me. I am Levi Ackerman.' It'll have thousands of notes. It will happen. And if it doesn't, I'll make it happen."

"My number one fanboy," Levi said with a hint of a smile and a roll of his eyes.

"Stan for life."

"What?"

"Nothing. Never mind."

" _Okay_."

 

Levi lounged around in the pool for a while while Eren laid sprawled out on the patio again. A car passed on the nearby street. Heat waves wiggled in the distance. The sun continued to blaze down on both of them. After only a few minutes, Eren was sweating and flushed red once more. He just pushed his bangs out of his face and held them there, squinting his eyes shut and refusing to move out of the sun. When a Rolling Stones block started playing on the radio, Levi snorted from his raft in the middle of the pool.

"Fuck you," Eren muttered, suddenly a hint of a frown on his face. And the more time passed, the more prominent it became. By the time Levi got out of the pool and returned to his spot resting on Eren's stomach, Eren was digging his fingers into his scalp. He looked like he wanted to rip his own brain out.

Levi turned his head so his cheek was pressed against Eren's skin, and so he was facing him. The adjustment caused Eren to crack one of his eyes open and glance down at Levi. Eren's eyebrows were furrowed and he seemed almost scared to look the other boy in the eye. Levi glared at Eren questioningly. "What's your problem?" he asked.

Eren quickly looked back up at the sky and closed his eyes again. "Nothing. It's just hot."

Levi mimicked his movements. He then pressed the back of his head into Eren's abs. "No, you're tense."

"It's just really hot," Eren repeated.

"Are you sure?"

"That it's hot? Yes, I'm very fucking sure."

"That's really your only problem?"

"Yes."

"You're lying."

Eren lifted his head up a little and scowled at Levi. "How would you know?!"

"You're too tense to be telling the truth," Levi said as he tried to relax into Eren's knotted up stomach. "Your breathing isn't steady like it was before your aunt left, and it was just as hot then as it is now." He lifted his arm and rested the back of his hand on Eren's chest. Eren flinched and his eyes shot wide open for a brief second. "Your heart's racing too."

"I'm fine," Eren spat.

Levi sighed and removed his hand. "Whatever. Tell me when you feel like it. You're just not very comfortable to lay on when you're like this."

"Well, no one asked you to lay on me."

At that, Levi lifted his head off of Eren. He just looked at him for a moment, and Eren looked back with frustration bursting from his eyes. Levi slowly scooted away from him and laid down on the patio a couple feet away instead. They stayed in silence like that for ten minutes or so, until Eren looked like he was going to explode.

And then he did explode.

"Levi," he blurted out.

"What?" Levi uttered, seeming not surprised at all by the sudden outburst.

There was a pause as Eren let out multiple unfinished sentences, but then he finally managed, "She- uh- accused me of being attracted to you."

"Explain," Levi said slowly after a moment.

"Oh. Um, you know, what you said earlier... about Aunt El. She didn't accuse me of getting off to the Stones again. She- uh- accused me of getting off to you."

Levi stayed silent, staring down at his feet with his usual apathetic expression. But there was this look in his eyes that made it seem like he was anything but uninterested. The trickling scuppers sounded like roaring waterfalls and Eren's heartbeat sounded more like a drumbeat in his own ears.

Eren groaned and held an arm over his eyes. "Fuck, I'm sorry. That was weird."

"Is that seriously what's been bothering you?"

Eren clamped his mouth shut at that.

"You're kidding, right?" Levi continued. "You're letting one person get to you? How the fuck are you not used to this by now?"

"Um, used to what?" Eren said hesitantly.

Levi sighed and started threading his fingers into his hair. "You're really going to make me say this?"

Eren mocked his sigh and pushed himself up into a sitting position. He bent his legs up closer to his body and dug his fingers into his knees. His cheeks were flushed red from more than just the heat. "Quit being a smartass," he grumbled.

The shorter man sat up with a huff as well, staring at a spot on the house just to the right of Eren. "People thinking we're fucking, or whatever the fuck they think. I don't fucking know."

"People think that?" Eren whispered, like it was some big secret.

"Your friends don't say anything?"

"No!" Eren glanced over at his phone, but then shook his head and looked back at Levi. "No. Do yours?"

Levi rolled his eyes. "Do you know how much shit I get from Hanji about you? It's a shit ton of shit. She's even got Erwin in on it now. It's a fucking nightmare. And you have your panties in a twist over _one comment_ from your aunt?"

"I mean, it's my aunt. She knows me better than anyone. That- what does that mean? That has to mean something-"

"It doesn't have to mean shit. It doesn't matter what people think they know about you. You decide how you feel. Not your friends. Not me. Not your aunt. No one. Not one other fucking person but you."

"But that's exactly what's bothering me!" Eren's face went beet red as he glared down at Levi, who continued to look everywhere but at him. "Me."

"You just need to get over it, Eren-"

"But I can't-"

"You can't let shit Aunt El says get to you."

"But this is different-"

"She's just fucking with you to get a rise out of you, Eren."

"Yeah, I know, but-"

"If you know then why are you letting it get to you?"

"Because she's right, okay?! ”

Every other sound in the world seemed to stop. Levi finally met Eren’s slightly watery eyes, staring at him calculatingly. Eren’s jaw was clenched as he held the other boy’s gaze. Their closeness suddenly became very apparent.

“You… jack off to me? ” Levi questioned hesitantly.

Eren frantically shook his head in protest. “No! No- I mean, kind of, but- no! No-”

“Kind of?”

“No! I mean- I just-” Eren whined and threw his hand into his hands. “There was this one time, like years ago, at one of your practices-”

“At practice? Well shit, no wonder you always wanted to come.”

“No, it wasn’t a normal thing, I swear! It was just one time and it wasn’t even really full-on jacking off,” Eren rushed. “ You know that one time you got shoved into the janky ladder by the high dive and got a chunk of metal sliced into your back? And you were kind writhing around on the ground right after-”

“Yeah, and you left to go puke in the bathroom right when they were about to pull it out. Or at least that’s what I thought at the time, but apparently you were going to relieve the hard-on you got from seeing me in pain, right? ”

“No! No, that's fucked up, man. I was just- You were just- you kept, like, arching your back up off the ground and- and you kept moaning and saying “fuck” over and over because the chlorine was burning, and whenever you’d open your eyes you’d be staring right at me and I just- I’d just discovered porn okay? I wasn’t in my right mind.”

Levi made a sound that almost resembled a laugh. “You horny fucking teenager.”

Eren lifted his head up a little and chuckled nervously. “I guess I just can’t control myself,” he breathed.

“That always has been a problem of yours. I suppose it’s not a surprise that it transferred over into your sex drive too,” Levi said. His unwavering gaze had grown darker, and he started tapping his fingers on the patio. “So, you got yourself off in the bathroom? ”

“No! How many times do I have to say no?” Eren exclaimed, licking his lips and glancing down at his crotch right after. “I didn’t. I- I didn’t know what I was doing. I was freaking the fuck out. I didn’t even go in a stall, I just kinda… stood there. And touched myself through my jeans. At least until one of the seniors came in and caught me.”

“Someone _caught you_? Oh my God, that’s priceless.”

“Fuck off,” Eren muttered, reaching over and punching Levi in the chest. His hand lingered for a second before he quickly pulled it away and shoved both hands into his lap. The two boys sat in burning, abnormally awkward silence until Eren spoke up again, his voice cracked and quiet. “What the fuck is wrong with me? ” he hissed at the ground. “You’re my friend.”

“Eren-”

“You’re my best friend. That’s so fucked up- I’m so fucked up.”

“It was only one time, and you were in middle school. Everyone’s fucked up in middle school. It’s fine-”

“No, it’s not fine! That- ” Eren gulped and knotted his fingers together in between his legs. “That was only the first time.”

Levi sighed and looked down at Eren’s hands. “When was the last time? ”

“...Two days ago.”

“Fuck, Eren.”

“And honestly, that probably won’t be the last time.”

Eren inhaled sharply when Levi’s hand was suddenly pressed against his chest. He watched with wide, nervous eyes as the other boy slide closer. Their legs touched and Levi looked up at Eren’s face.

“This is a really fucked up way of telling me that you’re into me,” he said, sliding his index finger back and forth across Eren’s skin.

“I know, I just needed to though. It was like, eating at me. And after what Aunt El said, I just- I needed to say something,” Eren said somberly. “You’re leaving and-” He stopped abruptly when Levi started tracing his hand down his torso.

“Okay, you said something,” Levi said, ignoring Eren’s last words. “Now you should stop saying things.”

“Ohmygodwhatareyoudoing,” Eren stuttered, the redness on his cheeks spreading down to his neck. Levi’s hand came to a stop once it hit the top of Eren’s bathing suit. He left it hovering there, toying around with the ties and the waistband. “Holy shit. Levi? ”

“Shut the fuck up,” Levi mumbled before pressing his lips to Eren’s neck. The sensation of Levi’s cool mouth on his scorching skin caused him to gasp. Levi starting slowly trailing his lips upwards.

“You don’t have to do this-”

“I want to, you shithead,” he muttered against his skin. Levi lifted one of his legs up and slid it in between Eren’s, rubbing his knee along the inside of Eren’s thighs. He then moved his hand over to Eren’s waist and slipped the tips of his fingers underneath the waistband. His other hand went up to trace the back of Eren’s neck. Eren shivered and dropped his forehead on to Levi’s shoulder, breathing heavily as he stared down at the other boy’s abs. He inched his legs further apart to allow Levi access, which he took. A little moan seeped out of Eren’s mouth as Levi nudged his knee into the growing bulge in his bathing suit.

“Moan again,” Levi murmured. “Moan for me again.”

Eren’s breath caught in his throat as Levi nipped at his ear. “Make me,” he rasped.

There was a hint of a smile on Levi’s face for a brief second. He moved his hand off Eren’s neck and on to his shoulder, only to quickly replace it with his mouth. He kissed and sucked along the back of his neck until the younger boy was shaking and panting in his arms, reaching down to palm himself through his suit.

“How do you know about that? ” Eren breathed, quietly moaning right after as Levi pushed against him with his knee.

Levi moved back over to the side of Eren’s head and started pressing his lips to his jaw a bit hungrily. “You’d never let anyone touch you there but me,” he answered. “Figured it was ‘cause you didn’t like it, but it’s actually the opposite.”

Eren let Levi trail along his jawline until he got near his mouth. There, he snaked a hand around to the back of Levi’s head and threaded his fingers into his hair, pulling him back slightly so they were face to face. They just stared at each other for a moment, blue-green into gray, both of their eyes glassy, cheeks bright red, and mouths parted. Eren’s eyes started to get watery again.

“What? What is it?” Levi questioned.

“I just- It’s just really hot.”

“You’re really hot.”

“Fuck off.” Eren smiled a little, but then completely took it back. “Actually no, don’t fuck off. Don’t ever fuck off.”

“Uh, sure. Whatever.” Levi started to lean into him again, but he was stopped by Eren tugging him back by his hair. A tear had flooded over and escaped Eren's eye, and was running down his cheek.

“Don’t fucking leave me, Levi,” Eren said, his voice cracked. 

Levi frowned and placed his hands and the sides of Eren’s head, but then decided against deafening him and moved them to his cheeks. He squished his face in, in and out and in and out, until Eren was laughing and crying at the same time. Then Eren yanked Levi in and pressed their lips together. It was slow and lazy at first, but quickly grew hungrier, fueled by the years they had missed out on, and the years without each other to come.

They didn’t pull away until their lungs were burning like their skin.

**Author's Note:**

> i told you it was stupid. but i didn't tell you IT WAS SAD *evil laughter while crying*
> 
> on a more serious note, thank you so much for reading. it really means a lot. as gross and mushy as this is, every single kudos and comment makes me smile. yep that was disgusting i'll walk myself out.


End file.
